We are Counselors and Related Professionals Serving Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Communities in Oregon!
We are Counselors and Related Professionals Serving Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Communities in Oregon!
Born and raised in the PNW, Aspen is a graduate of the Professional Mental Health Counseling program at Lewis and Clark College. She has been involved in activism and advocacy work since her sophomore year of undergraduate education, and is passionate about transformative justice. She uses a blend of person-centered, ACT, and intersectional feminist therapy in her counseling work. In her free time, she enjoys baking, reading, and playing board games with friends.
Saren is an LPC in Portland, Oregon. They hold a BA in Psychology, and an MA in Counseling and Guidance. They grew up on a cattle farm in the Ozarks and attended a religious college, College of the Ozarks, for part of their undergraduate education. The discriminination they experienced at this religious college spurred them to become involved in LGBTQ+ activism.
In their work as an activist they have written editorials for the Springfield News Leader, a regional newspaper in the Ozarks, been featured in Diverse Issues in Higher Education, and on St Louis Public Radio. They are a plaintiff in Hunter v. US Department of Education which is requesting the DOE to stop funding Colleges and Universities that discriminate against LGBTQ+ people
Annie is a white, cis-gendered, queer-identified, Licensed Professional Counselor on Mt. Hood. She owns a private practice, Zenn Counseling, where she provides telehealth and EcoTherapy (aka nature-based walk and talk counseling). Annie earned her Masters of Science in Education Counseling from Portland State University and uses a mixture of EMDR, Internal Family Systems and Art Therapy with her clients. For the past 16 years, she has worked as a therapist, social worker, teacher, school counselor, and crisis response team director in rural towns around Oregon. Annie knows that finding resources in rural areas can be difficult, especially for LGBTQ+ folks and other marginalized groups, which is why she is passionate about advocating for LGBQT+ people and other marginalized groups in rural Oregon. When she’s not working, Annie loves kayaking, hiking, camping, making ceramic sculptures, painting, and traveling.
Aarynn Cypher has a 20-year history in the helping professions, working as the director of a rural community mentoring program then moving to Portland to support parent/child relationships as a family support specialist/home visitor. She attended Portland State University and earned her Masters of Science degree in Counseling with an accreditation in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling. Aarynn’s activism is based on her value of recognizing that people have inherent worth outside of capitalist notions of productivity. Each person is full of history and life experience that deserves safety and validation. We all belong and are welcome here.
